


san junipero - taekook - black mirror au

by kenthedoll



Category: Black Mirror (TV), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Black Mirror Episode: s03e04 San Junipero, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assisted Suicide, Bisexual Character(s), Brief Depictions of Violence, Car Accidents, Disabled Character(s), Euthanasia, Fluff, Implied Smut, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Major Character Death(s), Marriage Proposal, Mentions of Cancer, Near Death Experiences, Pining, Simulated reality, Time Travel, Unrequited Love, Wedding, clubbing/partying, lone wolf!Taehyung, mentions of minor character death, mentions of past relationships - Freeform, shy!jungkook, substance/alcohol abuse, terminally ill character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22358044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenthedoll/pseuds/kenthedoll
Summary: In a seaside town in 1987, a shy young man and an outgoing party boy strike up a powerful bond that seems to defy the laws of space and time.ORThe Taekook version of the Black Mirror episode "San Junipero."
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Jung Eunbi | Eunha, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Kim Taehyung | V, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Sooyoung | Joy
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. 01

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE
> 
> THIS STORY IS A DIRECT COPY OF THE "SAN JUNIPERO" EPISODE OF THE TV SHOW "BLACK MIRROR"
> 
> IT HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM MY WATTPAD ACCOUNT (@ ken-the-doll) BECAUSE OF WATTPAD'S INCREASING RESTRICTIONS

The year was 1987.

 _The Lost Boys_ was still showing in theaters all over the states, Belinda Carlisle was still playing over every pop radio station, and Jeon Jeongguk was still wandering the streets of San Junipero.

He wasn't lost, per say, but simply drifting along, waiting for something or maybe someone, he wasn't exactly sure.

Then, as if on cue, the deep sound of a man's voice suddenly captivated his attention and Jeongguk absentmindedly paused in his tracks outside the tinted doors of a nightclub.

"Could you _please_ stop it? I just wanna have some fun, okay?"

"Taehyung, come on," another man followed the first toward the beaming neon lights of the club. " _Taehyung_."

"I'm still walking, Hoseok," the brunette hummed.

"We've only got a couple of hours, so let's, uh... let's use it," Hoseok was desperately trying to convince the man of something, but it wasn't working.

"I _am_ using it," Taehyung smiled mischievously and Jeongguk found himself gulping for some odd reason.

Hoseok followed Taehyung into the club and Jeongguk bit into his bottom lip as he began to contemplate joining them.

It _definitely_ wasn't his usual scene, but that's the exact reason why he was pushing through the door in the next instant and flashing his ID at a bouncer.

The club was as packed as one would expect, filled to the brim with drunken bodies moving over the dance floor to whatever synths were playing over the speakers in that moment.

Jeongguk's gaze drifted over to the soft neon glow of a few arcade games in the back. He gave a childlike smile when he finally came face to face with _Bubble Bobble_ , and quickly dug his wallet back out in order to insert the required coins to play.

A girl wandered over to his side with a drink in her hand once his eyes were glued to the screen and his hands to the controls.

"Hey," she greeted him over the noise of both the music and the games. "You're good at this."

Jeongguk either didn't hear her or simply didn't bother to reply, so she tried again.

"Uh, it's got different endings..." she told him, "depending on if you're in one or two player."

"Uh huh?"

"It was kinda the first game to do that--"

"Damn it!" Jeongguk smacked the side of the machine when he lost. He sighed to himself before reaching into his pocket for a few more coins.

"Um... do you wanna play _Top Speed_?" she asked him shyly.

He turned to assess the game she was gesturing to and watched the pixelated car on the screen drive head on into a building.

Jeongguk flinched, took a step back, and bumped into the _Bubble Bobble_ machine. "Oh, n-no," he shook his head. "Thank you. I just wanna... get my bearings a bit," he gestured toward the way he originally came.

"Oh, okay," she nodded despite the slightest look of disappointment on her face. "See you around?"

"Mhm," Jeongguk hummed even if he wasn't so sure about that.

She seemed like a nice girl, but even so, Jeongguk left her and the games behind in order to buy himself a drink and calm down.

As he sat by himself in a booth on the outer edge of the dance floor, sipping away at his Coke, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

With a drink in his hand, Hoseok darted between bodies in search of something, presumably the man he followed into the club in the first place.

Not a moment later, that man came strolling out of the men's room. After catching a glimpse of Hoseok on the dance floor, he turned around and his gaze immediately fell upon Jeongguk.

Jeongguk quickly averted his eyes, but Taehyung marched right up to the table and slid onto the seat beside him.

"Go along with whatever I say," he rushed out.

"Sorry?" Jeongguk wasn't quite sure what he heard him say with all of the noise around them.

"Whatever I say, go along with it," Taehyung repeated and Jeongguk hesitantly nodded as Hoseok suddenly approached. "Okay, Hobi, you're just pestering now. Do I have to red light you?"

Hoseok tapped his digital wristwatch. "Two hours, thirty-five. There's not much time left."

"Hoseok--" Taehyung rolled his eyes.

"Look," Hoseok slid onto the seat across the table from them. "Last week, we had the most _amazing_ \--"

"Last week was last week," Taehyung interrupted. "I need to talk with my friend here, okay?" he wrapped an arm around Jeongguk's shoulders, making his eyes widen slightly. "I haven't seen him in a while."

Hoseok scoffed incredulously at that, as if calling his bluff.

Taehyung leaned over the table then and whisper-yelled, "Hobi, he's _sick_! Like _six months to live_ sick!"

"Five, actually," Jeongguk corrected him, and he didn't know why he was helping this beautiful stranger deceive another, but there he was, doing just that.

Taehyung glanced back at Jeongguk for a split second, appearing a bit taken aback at the fact that Jeongguk actually did what he asked him to.

Taehyung smiled at him for a moment and Jeongguk silently considered it as a victory.

"I need to catch up with him," Taehyung repeated to Hoseok then. "Private time."

"Okay, okay," Hoseok glanced between the two of them and nodded. Then he looked at Jeongguk and politely told him, "hey, I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Jeongguk shook his head at that.

"See you around?" he asked Taehyung.

"Sure..." Taehyung told him despite his indifference, and with that, Hoseok pursed his lips before grabbing his beer bottle and making himself scarce. "Ugh," Taehyung groaned.

"Sorry for killing you," he apologized to Jeongguk. "The whole _six months to live_ thing? Oh, sorry, _five_ ," he jokingly corrected himself. "Five was a nice touch."

Jeongguk gave a curt laugh upon hearing that and Taehyung's lips stretched into another fond smile.

"Taehyung," he introduced himself with a hand to shake.

"Jeongguk," he slotted his own hand with Taehyung's and met his brown eyed gaze once again.

Having become a little distracted by the stars in Jeongguk's eyes, Taehyung cleared his throat, let go of his hand, and glanced over at the dance floor. "He's not a bad guy..." he said about Hoseok, "I feel kinda bad, but I met him at _The Quagmire_ , so..." he shrugged it off.

"What's _The Quagmire_?" Jeongguk asked curiously.

Taehyung's brows raised at that and he giggled adorably. "If you don't already know what _The Quagmire_ is, you probably don't wanna know."

"No?" Jeongguk hummed in amusement as he set his empty glass down.

"You want another one?"

"Oh, no, I--"

"Yeah, you do," Taehyung smirked as he stood from the booth. "Come on," he held a hand out for Jeongguk to take. "Do I have to tug your leash?"

Jeongguk couldn't help but flush bright red as he accepted Taehyung's hand and let himself be pulled through the sea of faded people.

"Hey, blondie!" Taehyung called to the bartender when they took a seat at the bar.

"I'm blondie?" the man chuckled at that on his way over to them.

"You are," he confirmed. "Jack and Coke, times two."

"Oh, mine was just a Coke," Jeongguk said.

" _Times two_ ," Taehyung emphasized regardless.

The man turned to fill the order, and Taehyung spun slightly in his seat in order to take a good, long look at Jeongguk, who quickly caught him staring.

"What are you doing?" Jeongguk blushed again.

"I'm... regarding you," Taehyung nodded.

"I feel like I'm being _analyzed_..." Jeongguk shook his head with a small laugh and looked away.

"Why the glasses?" Taehyung prompted then.

"Uh--"

"I like them. They totally work for you. But do you _need_ them?"

"The uh... the lenses don't do anything," Jeongguk admitted.

"Knew it!"

"I used to wear them in school, so now I guess they're just kind of a... comfort thing..."

"I figured they were kind of a fashion statement," Taehyung told him. "But then the rest of your outfit is not."

Jeongguk glanced down at his striped sweater and denim overalls.

"Don't take that wrong. It's refreshing," Taehyung assured him. "I mean, look around."

So Jeongguk did. The crowd was a wash of cheetah print, snakeskin, leather, and latex.

"People try so hard to look how they think they should look," Taehyung thought aloud, despite the spiked leather jacket, ripped jeans, and platform boots he was wearing. "Something they probably saw in some movie... but I like these," he reached up to gently slide Jeongguk's glasses up the bridge of his nose with the tip of his index finger. "You're authentically you."

Then they just looked at one another in silence for a moment, seemingly entranced, despite the nearly suffocating noise and the claustrophobia-inducing crowd of people all around them.

Their drinks being set on the bar top in front of them was what finally snapped the two of them out of it.

"Thanks," Taehyung smiled at the bartender and when they lifted their drinks, he told Jeongguk, "cheers."

Jeongguk's smile mirrored Taehyung's and he lightly tapped the side of his glass with his own before they simultaneously took a sip.

Jeongguk grimaced at both the feeling and the taste of the alcohol, set the glass back down on the bar, and cleared his throat.

"You've never tasted it before?" Taehyung giggled.

"No, I--" Jeongguk shook his head and admitted, "I just haven't had it in a while... but it's good."

"Do you live here?" Taehyung asked him curiously with his brows pinched together in thought, as if Jeongguk was some sort of enigma that he couldn't quite figure out.

"No," Jeongguk answered, then began to explain, "well--"

"Tourist?" he asked then, to which Jeongguk pursed his lips and tilted his head, and Taehyung decided, "we'll go with tourist. So you're new here?"

"First night," Jeongguk nodded.

" _First night_? Wow, okay!" Taehyung sounded genuinely enthused and it made Jeongguk smile even wider. In fact, his cheeks were starting to hurt because of it.

The song that had been playing over the speakers was suddenly washed out by another and Taehyung beamed when he recognized the tune. "Oh, my God! We _have_ to dance to this!" he giggled.

He quickly stood from the bar stool and downed a good third of his drink all in one go.

"With each other?" Jeongguk raised a brow at that, unsure if that was what Taehyung was getting at.

"Uh huh!" Taehyung chirped as he set the glass down.

"Oh, no," Jeongguk shook his head. "Dance floors aren't my thing."

"Oh, let's not limit ourselves."

"I... can't."

"Yes, you can. Come on!" Taehyung encouraged him and even held his hand out for Jeongguk to take again.

"No, I'll look dumb--"

Taehyung playfully rolled his eyes at that and grabbed Jeongguk's hand. "Just follow my lead!"

With that, he tugged the reluctant man onto the dance floor.

"Here! Copy me!" Taehyung shouted to him over all of the noise and he began to dance along to the music as if the beat was moving his limbs for him.

It seemed simple enough, but even so, Jeongguk found himself just standing there, staring.

Taehyung was ethereally beautiful and Jeongguk didn't really know how to feel about that.

All he really knew, was that the club had gotten _way_ too hot and _way_ too loud, and he needed out, _fast_.

Taehyung was so lost in the music, he hadn't even noticed that he'd been abandoned on the dance floor, until he turned back around to find that Jeongguk was gone.


	2. 02

Jeongguk let the rain poor down on the toes of his yellow converse as he leaned against the outer wall of the nightclub, in the alleyway that ran beside it. Fortunately, the rest of him was still dry, due to the eave of the roof above his head.

He didn't know why he felt the need to run, especially from someone as kind and charismatic as Taehyung. He sighed self-deprecatingly to himself before he heard Taehyung's voice coming from his left.

"Hey!" the brunette said from the threshold of the exit door. He brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the rain as he made his way over to Jeongguk. "Why did you run away?" he dropped his hand once he had joined Jeongguk under the eave.

"Oh, sorry, I--" Jeongguk began, feeling his cheeks heating up with his embarrassment. "I said I'm not much of a dancer..."

Taehyung giggled at that, "no shit. Like a frightened horse on a frozen lake back there." Jeongguk appeared to frown, so Taehyung added, "I'm kidding... _half_ kidding."

Jeongguk managed a smile, so Taehyung figured he must've been doing something right.

"I'm sorry I pushed you into it," Taehyung told him sincerely. "Saturday night's once a week. It's like _no_ time. I get impatient."

"No, no. It's not that," Jeongguk assured him. "It's... everyone was looking."

"Looking?"

"Yeah," Jeongguk nodded meekly. "You know... two guys... _dancing_."

"Okay, one, folks are way less uptight than they used to be," Taehyung said, "and two, this is a party town. No one's judging. Face it; If they were staring, it's because I'm _bodacious_."

Jeongguk laughed fondly at that, despite agreeing with his statement. "You're stupid," he teased him as he took a seat on the bench beside the door.

"Thank you!" Taehyung casually sat beside him.

They're both silent for a moment after that, but neither of them felt uncomfortable, and with the way Taehyung's jean clad thigh was now pressed up against his own, Jeongguk found that to be pretty surprising.

"I've never been on a dance floor," he broke the silence.

" _Never_? As in _the whole time you've been alive_ , never?"

"Never."

Taehyung smiled bright, but his brows were pinched together in confusion. "What are you, like, _Amish_? That's one sheltered existence you got there."

"Yeah, well..." Jeongguk shrugged and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, out of habit, "as far as my family's concerned, I can't do _anything_."

"Well, no one knows about even _half_ the shit I get up to," Taehyung admitted. "With your folks, it's from a place of love, though, right? They worry."

"They don't worry," Jeongguk shook his head with a bittersweet half smile. "Just the concept of me enjoying myself would blow their minds."

"What would you like to do?" Taehyung asked him. "That you've never done?"

"Oh..." Jeongguk smiled to himself as he thought it over. " _So_ many things..."

"San Junipero is a party town... all up for grabs," Taehyung smiled back at Jeongguk. "Midnight's two hours away," he reminded him.

"Oh, that's not long," Jeongguk replied.

"Why waste time sitting here?"

Taehyung confidently placed a hand on Jeongguk's thigh, gently squeezing at his clothed flesh with his fingertips.

"I, um--" Jeongguk stood from the bench suddenly and absentmindedly began to pull the sleeves of his sweater down past his knuckles; Another nervous habit. "Listen..."

"It's okay," Taehyung assured him with that genuine smile of his that Jeongguk felt like witnessing forever.

"No, I mean--"

"Really, it's okay," Taehyung said.

"No, I'm, uh..." Initially, Jeongguk couldn't seem to find the words to explain the fact that, "I'm engaged... I have a fiancé. She's called Eunha."

"And is Eunha here?"

Jeongguk shook his head. "No, she's--"

"Elsewhere?"

"Yeah."

"Huh," Taehyung nodded in understanding before bluntly asking, "wanna go to bed with me? We could be back at mine in like," he snapped his fingers, as if to show how quickly they could sneak away and be with one another.

Jeongguk met his eyes once again, feeling flattered that Taehyung seemed to find him attractive enough to sleep with, but also slightly ashamed of the fact that, "I never did anything like that..."

"All the more reason," Taehyung shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal because to him, it wasn't, but to Jeongguk...

"Oh, you're nice..." he thought aloud, and he really wanted to accept the man's offer, but he couldn't find the confidence to go for it just yet. "I can't."

"Okay," Taehyung nodded and stood from the bench with the same smile on his face that he'd been wearing since he first joined Jeongguk outside.

"It's just--I can't..."

"I get it."

"I have to go," Jeongguk said.

"In _this_?" Taehyung gestured out to the rain that poured all around them.

"It's been really great to meet you," Jeongguk brought his hand up for Taehyung to shake.

"Likewise," he said when he did so.

"Okay," Jeongguk moved to walk past him, and when he reached the sidewalk at the end of the alley, he paused as he found himself having second thoughts. 

But when he glanced back in the direction he came, Taehyung was gone, so Jeongguk carried on.

**\---**

It had been a full week since Jeongguk had seen Taehyung and he couldn't seem to get him off his mind.

Day in and day out, the leather studded man danced through his dreams, and made himself a home in Jeongguk's subconscious.

However, Jeongguk wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Taehyung discovered this when he pulled up to the club and found Hoseok waiting for him in the parking area.

"What the hell, Hobi?"

"Look, I know I'm coming across--"

"I'm red lighting you, for real, okay?"

"No, don't do that," Hoseok rushed out. "Just--"

"Then stop this!" Taehyung said as he walked.

"Can you hear me out, please? _Please_."

Taehyung paused to look at him then. "How many people do you think there are in San Junipero? Hundreds? Thousands?"

"I don't care."

"I'm saying there's _plenty_ of others out there for you, Hobi."

"The locals?" Hoseok asked incredulously as a group of people approached the club. "They're like _dead_ people."

The group was practically howling with excitement as they followed each other inside.

"A little lively for dead people," Taehyung muttered and continued walking.

"Look, I don't want some kind of boring romance, okay? Like, a _put us in a retirement home_ kind of deal."

"Well, if you're looking for someone to fuck, there's options," Taehyung told him before suggesting, "hang out at _The Quagmire_ again."

"It's not just sex."

"It _was_ just sex."

"No, we made a connection," Hoseok persisted, taking a step closer.

"Hobi. It was just sex."

"No--"

"No roots," Taehyung shook his head. "We had fun," he brought a hand up to trace his thumb over Hoseok's cheekbone. "I'm sorry," he apologized genuinely before pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of the older man's mouth.

Hoseok's jaw was set when Taehyung began to walk away again. 

"Enjoy the town, for God's sake!" Taehyung called back to him with a smile.

Little did he know, he had become the only reason Hoseok even enjoyed San Junipero anymore.

**\---**

"Hey."

Taehyung averted his eyes from the top of the bar, up to the man that was now standing beside him.

"Hey," Taehyung greeted simply, having grown used to the way people in this town gazed at him like he hung the moon.

"Waiting for someone?" the man asked curiously as he leaned on his forearm against the bar.

"Not really."

The man nodded in understanding. "I'll get you a drink?" he offered, to which Taehyung perked up a bit, completely oblivious of Jeongguk, who had just entered the club.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

As Jeongguk made his way through the crowd, absentmindedly searching for the familiar face he'd been daydreaming about since he first saw it, Taehyung listened to the stranger at the bar, droning on and on about things he couldn't care less about, while he sipped from a drink he didn't pay for.

"You know, I never got this song. Kind of weird," the man tried to strike up a conversation with him time and time again, but Taehyung just wasn't feeling it; Whatever _it_ was supposed to be.

However, as he glanced over the shoulder of the stranger and suddenly met Jeongguk's gaze, he definitely felt _something_.

"Should we dance?" Taehyung asked the stranger with a smile, bringing a smirk to his lips.

"Sure."

Taehyung grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him to the middle of the dance floor. 

_They make it look so easy_ , Jeongguk thought, and no matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to join them.

So he sat and waited, in the same booth he was sitting in when Taehyung first spoke to him the week before, as Taehyung danced and eventually sat down at a different booth with the man he'd been dancing with.

Jeongguk couldn't help but stare. He hoped Taehyung wouldn't think him strange for doing so, but Taehyung seemed preoccupied, and not because of the man he was sitting with.

Taehyung met Jeongguk's eyes once again, to which Jeongguk took another sip of his Jack and Coke.

"Gotta use the bathroom," Taehyung suddenly excused himself before quickly making his way over to the men's room.

Taehyung was washing his hands when Jeongguk joined him in the restroom.

Taehyung didn't seem to have anything to say as he dried his hands and ran his fingertips through his messy hair in the mirror.

"I don't know how to do this," Jeongguk thought aloud once he was sure they were both alone.

"Do what?" Taehyung asked casually, watching Jeongguk through the mirror.

"Just... _help me_..." Jeongguk said quietly, and he was unable to meet Taehyung's eyes at first, even in the mirror's reflection. "Just... make this easy for me?"

Taehyung turned to look at him then, so Jeongguk faced him as well, and found the courage to look him in the eye when he took a few steps closer.

Taehyung reached up to brush Jeongguk's hair out of his eyes, not minding the fact that he was still wearing his glasses even though he didn't need them anymore.

"You wanna get in my car?"

Jeongguk nibbled his own bottom lip, to try and stifle his bashful smile when he nodded in response, and Taehyung felt his heart swell with endearment.


	3. 03

"How long have you been here?"

"Sorry?" Taehyung subconsciously leaned toward the center console of his Jeep when he couldn't hear Jeongguk's question over the sound of the wind whipping past them.

"How long have you been here?" Jeongguk repeated a bit louder as Taehyung focused on the road.

"In San Junipero? Uh... couple of months. Plan is: long enough to enjoy myself. Guess I'm a tourist, like you."

"...yeah," Jeongguk hesitated as he turned his head to stare out the window at the neon lights among the darkness of the landscape.

"Hey, you okay?"

Jeongguk glanced back at him then to find Taehyung looking at him with concern. The sand of the beach and the ocean rolling in made an ethereal backdrop for the ethereal being he truly believed Taehyung was.

"Yeah," he smiled brighter than Taehyung had ever seen, and it must've distracted him because, in the next instant, a horn could be heard honking in front of them.

Their attention was immediately diverted to a car that quickly approached them head on. Taehyung hadn't been paying attention to the road and had accidentally crossed the double lined paint that split the two lanes in opposite directions.

Jeongguk gasped and yelped, "shit!"

Fortunately, Taehyung quickly veered the steering wheel to the left and brought the Jeep to a halt on the sandy terrain of the beach before they could end up in any sort of accident.

Both of them were panting from the sudden rush of adrenaline. Taehyung's hands gripped the wheel with white knuckles and Jeongguk's hands were planted firmly on the dashboard.

When he finally glanced over at Taehyung to find him smiling like a maniac, Jeongguk's brows furrowed incredulously.

"Sorry, but... man, your _face_!" Taehyung giggled, and as terrified as Jeongguk had been just a few seconds ago, he felt content when he began to laugh right along with him.

**\---**

Taehyung drove him to a beach house that appeared large enough to accommodate the average family and let the two of them inside with ease before closing the door behind them.

"Wow," Jeongguk commented as Taehyung led him through the lower level of the house.

"You like it?"

"It's just so _big_."

"Reminds me of where I grew up," Taehyung said while Jeongguk glanced around at the paintings on the walls and the knickknacks on the tables and shelves.

One photograph in particular caught Jeongguk's eye, causing him to lift the frame from the desk it rested upon. There was a smiling woman, with features eerily similar to Taehyung's, standing before a banner that read, _Happy Birthday, Sana_.

"Miss your mom?" Jeongguk asked curiously as he smiled down at the photo in his hands, but Taehyung wasn't in the mood to discuss their families.

This was evident in the way he gently took the frame from Jeongguk, placed it back on the desk, and _finally_ closed the space between them with a searing kiss.

When Taehyung pulled back the slightest bit to gauge Jeongguk's reaction, Jeongguk immediately brought his hands up, in order to cup his face and kiss him again and again.

Jeongguk had never been kissed like this before, and even so, he wanted more. Taehyung gave him more when he took Jeongguk's hand in his and led him upstairs.

When they reached the top of the steps, they reunited with a kiss that left them both feeling a bit needy, and Taehyung slowly walked Jeongguk backward through his bedroom door.

They only broke away when Taehyung playfully shoved Jeongguk back onto his king-sized bed. Jeongguk hummed at the soft feeling of it as Taehyung tossed is leather jacket aside and knelt onto the foot of the mattress. Now clad in just a loose t-shirt and jeans, he slowly crawled his way up to Jeongguk, who shyly parted his legs to allow the man room enough to lay between them.

Taehyung held himself up above him, with his hands in the sheets to either side of Jeongguk's head, and wasted no time in kissing him breathless once more.

Jeongguk's hands roamed every inch of his exposed skin, just feeling and memorizing every curve, every edge, and every goosebump that raised in the path of his wandering fingertips.

Taehyung made quick work of unbuttoning Jeongguk's shirt and running a warm palm down the center of his bare chest.

"Y-You have to show me," Jeongguk breathed. His pupils were blown out wide, no doubt as wide as Taehyung's were, and he was still having a hard time believing any of this was actually happening.

It was like it was all part of a really long-winded dream that he never wanted to wake up from. He briefly wondered if Taehyung could feel it, too, the way Jeongguk felt beneath all of his attention; A way Jeongguk had never felt with anyone else before.

It terrified him to think that he could feel so strongly for someone he'd practically just met.

But Taehyung would be lying if he said he couldn't feel it as well.

"Okay," Taehyung hummed as he trailed his kisses over Jeongguk's jawline, down his neck, and against his throat where he left a faint purple bruise with his mouth.

Jeongguk was all blushing cheeks, shaky breaths, and gentle hands as Taehyung worked at his belt and snaked it through the loops with ease.

Taehyung was clearly experienced, and it made Jeongguk feel a bit self-conscious, but then Taehyung's lips were moving lower, lower, lower, until he reached the hem of Jeongguk's jeans, shaking the thoughts from his head and making his toes curl in anticipation.

**\---**

"You've never slept with a man before?"

Jeongguk and Taehyung lay together, sprawled out, naked, and quietly panting beneath the mess they had made of Taehyung's sheets.

Jeongguk tenses, but quickly relaxes when he feels Taehyung's fingers lacing with his own between them.

"That's not a critique," Taehyung looked over at him. Jeongguk wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. They had come off along with the rest of his clothes and Taehyung had sincerely enjoyed seeing Jeongguk in such a vulnerable setting. "I mean, it was fucking _awesome_..."

Jeongguk chuckled at that while he stared down at their hands. "No, never with a man," he explained before admitting, "never with _anyone_..."

"Not _anyone_? Like, anyone _in town_ or...?"

"No," Jeongguk shook his head with a beaming smile. "No one, nowhere. I guess you deflowered me," he blushed as he turned onto his side in order to face Taehyung.

"I _deflowered_ you?" Taehyung smiled fondly at that. "What is this, Merry England?"

Jeongguk laughed again, causing Taehyung's stomach to overflow with flittering butterflies, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about that just yet.

"Shut up."

"You've had relationships, though," Taehyung said it more like a statement. 

Jeongguk just shook his head and hummed in denial.

"Hello? You've got a fiancé."

Jeongguk's smile fell upon being reminded of that, but he still faced Taehyung. He pursed his lips and said, "it's complicated."

"Yeah. I'll say."

"When did you know...?" Jeongguk asked him curiously as he admired the profile of Taehyung's face, "that you liked men...?"

"I like women, too," Taehyung informed him. "Equal rights," he joked.

"Okay. But when did you know? Did you always know?"

Taehyung rolled over to face him then.

"I was married to a girl. A long time, I was married," Taehyung confessed. "I always knew..." he said. "I mean, I'd be attracted to other guys; Co-workers, friends, some waiter that served me..." he laughed at his own expense. "They were crushes. _God_ , they were crushes. But I never acted on any of it... never did anything... I was in love with her. I really was in love with her..."

Jeongguk squeezed his hand supportively, silently letting him know that it didn't bother him to hear Taehyung talk about such things. He wanted to know Taehyung like the back of his hand, if he was being completely honest with himself.

"But she chose not to stick around," Taehyung pursed his lips before forcing himself to smile again. "So now it's me and I'm passing through... and before I leave, I'll have a good time. I'm just gonna have a good time."

He let himself smile sincerely when Jeongguk gently pressed the pad of his thumb against his bottom lip, but moved to lie on his back once again as a way to distract himself from what he was starting to feel for the boy lying next to him.

He glanced over at the digital clock on the nightstand that read _11:59pm_ , and he sighed, "time's nearly up."

"Then let's lie here," Jeongguk pleaded quietly.

As Taehyung turned to look at Jeongguk once more, he thought to himself, _how can I possibly resist that face?_


	4. 04

Another week had passed of Jeongguk seeing Taehyung in his daydreams. 

It was finally Saturday; _Finally time to see Taehyung again_ , Jeongguk thought to himself as his heart pounded away in his chest, and he made his way deeper into the club they'd been frequenting as of late.

"Excuse me?" he asked the bartender, _Blondie_ , as he approached the bar. "Have you seen Taehyung?"

"What's that?" he leaned over the bar in order to hear him better over the music.

"Taehyung?"

"Haven't seen him all night," the man shook his head. "You tried _The Quagmire_?"

Jeongguk shook his head at that. "What is _The Quagmire_?" he asked curiously, hoping the man would have some sort of explanation.

The bartender shook his head with an amused look before he began to explain.

**\---**

Jeongguk found himself walking down a gravel road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, toward a massive, abandoned industrial factory. 

Judging by the bright neon lights surrounding it, the building had been remodeled into some sort of club. Only Jeongguk wasn't entirely sure if it could be compared to the one he'd grown so familiar with over the course of the last few weeks.

As he walked inside, the atmosphere seemed to shift drastically.

There were no bouncers at the door, no security team to keep people in check, no _rules_ , it seemed. 

There was no synth-pop music playing over the speakers, but instead, heavy metal. The entrance, the hallways, and the seemingly endless expanse of the dance floor were filled to the brim with people of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. 

There was no cheetah print, no neon, no glitter, just black leather, tight latex, and silver chains.

Jeongguk swallowed thickly when a man dressed in tight jeans and black harnesses stared him down like a piece of meat as he passed him by. Then his lips parted absentmindedly when he walked deeper into the club and made eye contact with a woman dressed in nothing but a short black skirt and nipple tassels. 

She reached up to caress his cheek with one of her dainty, biker-gloved hands. He froze in place momentarily, but respectfully averted his eyes and kept walking, even after she had bitten her lip and stared him up and down.

Tattooed and pierced women danced within chainlink cages that were scattered randomly throughout the mess of a dance floor. Some of the cages were reserved for other things, Jeongguk discovered, as he passed one containing two clearly inebriated men that had been fist fighting one another.

Jeongguk flinched when one of them shoved the other against the cage and landed several punches to his face, back-to-back.

It didn't take Jeongguk very long to realize that _The Quagmire_ was definitely not his scene. Even if Taehyung was there trying to convince him otherwise, Jeongguk didn't know if he'd ever be ready for a place like this.

The noise, the violence, and the hands reaching out to touch him without any sort of permission, among other things, were what had led up to his decision to leave.

He did a quick 180 in order to walk back in the direction he originally came. Once he made it back to the hall that led to the entrance, he accidentally bumped shoulders with someone as they moved deeper into the club.

"Whoa! Hey!" the man exclaimed and Jeongguk flinched.

"I'm sorry!" he called back to him with his hands up. When he looked up at the man's face, he was a little surprised to find that he had run into Hoseok.

"Hey, I know you from somewhere," Hoseok pointed at him with his beer bottle. His shirt was unbuttoned, hanging loosely on his shoulders, and his hair was a mess. His slurred words and the smell of his breath made it obvious that he was drunk. " _Tucker's_..." he said when he remembered the name of the club. "Taehyung's friend, huh?" he turned to walk away, but Jeongguk quickly spoke up before he could do so.

"Do you know where to find him?"

"How would I know that?" Hoseok narrowed his eyes at the younger man.

"You're his friend..."

" _Was_ a friend."

"Has he been here?"

"No," Hoseok shook his head incredulously. When Jeongguk frowned, Hoseok laughed at him. "You too, huh?" he said, implying that Taehyung must have left Jeongguk high and dry as well. Jeongguk was certain he wasn't going to get anywhere with Hoseok's help, so he turned to leave, but before he could do so, Hoseok told him, "hey. Try a different time."

Jeongguk stared at him with a blank expression, so he continued.

"He was here in '80, the '90s... 2002 one time," he paused as his eyes welled up with tears. "He's worth the shot, right?" he asked rhetorically before taking another swig of his beer.

Jeongguk nodded and Hoseok turned away, so he moved to do the same, exiting _The Quagmire_ with a few new leads.

**\---**

So Jeongguk traveled through space and time to search for Taehyung in 1980.

 _Tucker's_ looked the same as it had in 1987, and the people hadn't changed very much either, Jeongguk discovered when he retraced his steps by moving over to the arcade area.

The same girl from '87, that had asked him to play _Top Speed_ , was now playing the newly released _Pac-Man_.

"Hey," she smiled brightly when she spotted him.

"Hey," Jeongguk returned the smile.

"Golden age, right?" she gestured to all of the different games around them.

"Right."

"You playing or...?"

"Sorry, I'm looking for someone," he politely excused himself before heading toward the dance floor.

"Maybe... n-next time!" she called after him.

However, Jeongguk searched every inch of the club, and couldn't find a single trace of Taehyung.

**\---**

Even in 1996, Jeongguk was unable to find what he'd been searching for, for what had felt like _several months_ at this point.

Taehyung was absolutely nowhere to be found.

Not at _Tucker's_ , not at _The Quagmire_ , not even at his beach house.

Jeongguk was beginning to lose hope.

But he still had one last year to check.

**\---**

It was in 2002 that Jeongguk finally found him.

In the arcade of _Tucker's_ , Taehyung was playing a round of _Dance Dance Revolution Extreme_ with the girl Jeongguk had just seen, playing _Pac-Man_ , while he was searching in 1980.

Taehyung was dressed in a white silk shirt and a simple pair of black jeans, rather than his studded jacket and shredded pants. He was also blonde now; A stark contrast to the natural shade of brown he usually sported. Regardless, Jeongguk was captivated by his beauty. 

He watched the two of them dance until the screen displayed their final scores and they high-fived one another.

" _Select a song_!" the voice within the game exclaimed as Taehyung turned around and his smile immediately fell from his face when his gaze met Jeongguk's face.

"Hi..." Jeongguk greeted him shyly.

"Bathroom," Taehyung announced before casually walking right past Jeongguk in order to reach the men's room.

"Hey!" Jeongguk called after him and he was quick to push his way through the crowd to reach him. "Wait a minute," he reached for Taehyung's hand in order to get him to stop.

Jeongguk suddenly felt Hoseok's pain when Taehyung's brows furrowed and he asked, "why are you here?"

"I was looking for you," Jeongguk's brows furrowed as well. He wasn't sure why Taehyung was blowing him off all of a sudden. "Where did you go?"

"I like a change of music?" Taehyung shrugged and raised a brow as if to say he didn't understand what the issue was.

Jeongguk looked around and scoffed. "How the hell is _this_ your era?"

Taehyung didn't answer, but even he knew that Jeongguk was right.

"You hid from me..." Jeongguk said.

"One, I did _not_ ," Taehyung said defensively. "Two, I owe you _zero_ , and _three_... see point two."

He turned and walked away before Jeongguk could even process what he'd been told. Nevertheless, Jeongguk followed him into the men's room.

"It's not about who owes who," Jeongguk shook his head, and he didn't really care if anyone was in there with them, listening. "It's about _manners_. You don't know who I am..."

Taehyung leaned over one of the sinks and stared at his own reflection in the mirror. 

"You don't know what this means..." Jeongguk told him.

" _This_ means _fun_ , or it _should_ ," Taehyung shook his head, "and _this_? This is not fun, okay? _This is not fun_."

"So, you don't feel bad?" Jeongguk asked with a voice just barely above a whisper. Taehyung didn't say anything. "Maybe you _should_ feel bad... or at least feel _something_."

With that, Jeongguk turned and left; Left the restroom and left the club.

Meanwhile, Taehyung stared at himself in the reflection once more. Only this time around, he despised everything he was looking at; To the point that he even drew his fist back in order to punch the mirrored image of himself.

The glass shattered, but as he looked down at his fist, he saw no trace of the damage he'd caused; No blood, no pain, and when he looked up at the mirror again, it was completely intact.

It was then that he realized Jeongguk was right.

 _Maybe you_ should _feel bad... or at least feel_ something _._


	5. 05

Taehyung rushed out of _Tucker's_ , in search of Jeongguk, in 2002.

He approached a couple of people who were loitering near their cars across the street from the club. "Have you seen a man? Mid 20s, black hair, glasses?" he asked, to which they both tipped their heads back in order to stare up at something, or rather _someone_.

Taehyung followed their line of sight to the roof of _Tucker's_ , and his lips parted out of fear when he spotted Jeongguk up there, casually sitting at the edge with his legs dangling carelessly over it.

"Oh, jeez..." Taehyung breathed and quickly made his way around the side of the club in order to climb the ladder that led up to the roof.

Jeongguk stared down at the nightlife bustling by several feet below his shoes as Taehyung finally reached the top.

"Hey..." he greeted Jeongguk gently. He sat down on the roof by the ladder, as he was afraid that if he made the wrong move, Jeongguk would jump. "Please, tell me you've got your pain slider set to zero..." he said, referring to a setting on the digital wristwatches everyone in San Junipero was obligated to wear.

"Yeah, I think so..." Jeongguk nodded, despite not really caring about his watch settings in that moment.

Taehyung stood and slowly moved closer.

"Okay, listen--"

"How many of them are dead?" Jeongguk interrupted him, but kept his gaze fixed on all of the people down below. He'd known all along that not everyone in this town was still alive in the real world, but it still pained him to know; To be completely aware of the painfully tragic _reality_. "Like, what percentage?"

"As in full-timers?" Taehyung asked, as opposed to the _tourists_ he'd previously mentioned.

 _Tourists_ had the gift, and arguably the _curse_ , of returning to their reality. They could leave San Junipero altogether with the help of their wristwatch, but also come back whenever they pleased, to whatever era they pleased as well. However, whenever a touristpassed away in reality, they were granted the choice to either stay in San Junipero for eternity, or move on as God intended.

Should they choose to stay in San Junipero, their soul would live on in their new, permanent home, forever. 

It was an afterlife of sorts and it was invitation _only_.

Taehyung glanced down at the street below. "80?" he guessed, "85?" He moved to sit next to Jeongguk on the edge then, but sat criss-cross instead of dangling his legs over it. "I'm sorry," he told Jeongguk sincerely.

Jeongguk offered a small smile at that. "I'm not gonna jump..." he assured Taehyung.

"I know, and I'm sorry, whatever... it's just..." Taehyung sighed, "in the time I've been here, I said I wouldn't... I don't know... _do_ feelings."

Jeongguk's smile fell and Taehyung chuckled quietly.

"You freaked me out," he admitted. "I don't wanna _like_ anyone..."

Jeongguk nodded in understanding, fully prepared to leave, until Taehyung continued.

"So you've been just... _totally fucking inconvenient_ ," Taehyung smiled up at him with tears in his brown eyes. "It's just that... I don't know how long there is... and I can't. I wasn't prepared for _you_ ," Taehyung's voice broke and tears slipped down both of his cheeks and Jeongguk couldn't stand to see him so sad any longer. "For wanting something--"

Jeongguk gently held Taehyung's face in his hands and leaned in to kiss him with every fibre of his being.

When they pulled away, Jeongguk let him cry quietly against his chest, and Taehyung decided then that he was _done_ trying to hide his true self away from a man of as much love and integrity as Jeongguk.

**\---**

"Next week it is," Jeongguk announced from where he was sat next to Taehyung on the deck of his beach house. They watched the waves roll in and then back out toward the bleeding colors of the sunset. "I'm getting married."

"Next week?" Taehyung hummed as he flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette. "To nice Eunha?" he chuckled curtly. "Sure you're going through with that?"

"I have to," Jeongguk shook his head with a laugh.

" _You_ _have_ _to_?" Taehyung raised a brow at that.

"Mhm," Jeongguk nodded. "She really is a good woman. I mean, my family don't approve, but... they can't stop us," he shrugged it off. "I know she pities me... that pisses me off. But that's not fair," he shook his head and didn't realize he was beginning to ramble, "'cause she's..."

Taehyung wrapped an arm around Jeongguk's shoulders, bringing him in a little closer as he softly shushed the younger boy. Jeongguk let his head rest against Taehyung's chest for a moment before he thought of something.

"You said you don't know how much time there is..." he began. "What does that mean?"

Taehyung let his hand fall to the small of Jeongguk's back before he removed his touch altogether, afraid of what was to come once he finally came clean about why he was _really_ in San Junipero.

"They tell me 3 months..." Taehyung answered honestly. He'd never spoken about his reality with anyone else he'd met there. Not even Hoseok. "It's spread basically everywhere..." he gave a weak smile. "But they told me 3 months before 6 months ago... so, you know, what do they know?" 

Jeongguk was momentarily stunned into silence as Taehyung stared down at the faint orange glow of his cigarette. 

"It doesn't even taste of anything," he admitted before reaching to put it out against the deck.

"So, you'll stay here after?"

"No," Taehyung shook his head immediately. "When I'm done, I am _done_."

"But, that's cra--I mean--" Jeongguk stumbled over his words. "Why?"

"Joy," Taehyung answered. "That's... my wife's name was Joy. She died just two years ago... so we had the opportunity to stay in San Junipero... pass over. She didn't take it," he shook his head as his eyes welled with tears once more. "Didn't want to take it."

"Why wouldn't anyone take it?" Jeongguk shook his head in disbelief.

"She had her viewpoint..." Taehyung shrugged. "There were things she believed, and things she didn't believe in, and this place was one of them. Wouldn't even visit... take the trial run..."

" _Shit_..." Jeongguk breathed. "I didn't know if I wanted to try it, but... I mean..." he giggled, "Jesus, without this place, I never would've met someone like you."

"Yeah, you could have."

"No, I wouldn't," Jeongguk said seriously.

"We could have met outside all this."

"No," Jeongguk laughed again. "You... would not have got me at all. _At all_." Taehyung gave him an incredulous look, so Jeongguk explained, "if we really met, I mean... if we _really_ met, you-you wouldn't like me."

"Try me."

"Or you'd--" Jeongguk sighed exasperatedly. "You wouldn't want to spend time with me. You'd come and then--"

" _Try me_ ," Taehyung laughed.

"Why?" Jeongguk asked then. "Why? What's the point? What? Where are you, Houston?"

"Carson City, Nevada," Taehyung answered. "So, come on. I showed you mine," he leaned his shoulder into Jeongguk's. "Where are you?" Jeongguk hesitated so Taehyung brought up his wristwatch and chuckled, "I can just look it up--"

"Santa Rosa, California," Jeongguk answered.

"That's _no_ distance," Taehyung said.

"I don't want you to--" Jeongguk began. "I don't want you to see me. I mean, I'm scared--"

"--and I'm dying," Taehyung interrupted with tears streaming down his face. "Whatever you are can't scare me," he smiled despite the dull ache in his heart. "Let me come visit. I want to say hi."

At 11:59pm, Jeongguk nodded.   
At 12:00am, reality set in.


	6. 06

"Here you go." 

Jisoo smiled kindly as she held onto Taehyung's frail hand in order to help him into the shuttle bus.

Taehyung had remained silent the entire way, from his _real_ home at the assisted living residence _Sienna Trust_ in Carson City, to Santa Rosa.

Jeongguk had given him the address to _his_ real home, and Taehyung was finally going to pay him a visit, even if he wasn't quite sure what exactly that would entail just yet.

When they arrived, Jisoo helped him out of the shuttle and up to the glass double door of a large building, which Taehyung quickly recognized to be hospice.

"You must be Taehyung," a young man in white greeted the elderly man with a welcoming handshake once he set foot in the lobby.

"I guess I must," Taehyung answered with a smile and a voice that was a bit rough with age.

"He's waiting for you."

"Thank you."

The doctor led Taehyung and Jisoo down a hallway. "Please," the younger man respectfully excused himself before reaching for the touch screen panel beside one of the many doors. His index fingerprint gained the three of them access. "He won't be able to physically respond in any way, but he can hear you," he explained as he gestured to the elderly man on the only bed inside. "I'll give you some privacy."

The doctor left and once the door sealed shut, Jisoo squeezed Taehyung's arm supportively before he walked up to the foot of the hospice bed.

Jeongguk lay still with a thin white blanket pulled up to his chest. His arms were stagnant at his sides on top of it, his eyes remained open and unblinking, and his chest moved almost robotically with each breath he took, considering there was a tube in his trachea that breathed for him with the help of a machine.

Taehyung walked around the edge of the bed until he was able to reach down and hold onto Jeongguk's limp hand.

"Hello, stupid," he smiled down at Jeongguk. "It's good to see you," he hummed before leaning down to kiss his forehead.

**\---**

As Taehyung was leaving the building with Jisoo at his side, a short-haired young woman in brown scrubs called out to them.

"Uh, hello? Excuse me. Is it Taehyung?" she asked the older man.

"It is," Taehyung nodded despite being unaware of who he was speaking to.

"I'm Eunha," she smiled.

" _You're_ Eunha?" Taehyung's brows raised upon hearing that. "Holy shit."

Jisoo and Eunha both giggled while he gave her a once over.

"You know, I think it's great that you came down here in person before he passes over. Even his folks don't come visit anymore so--"

"He's passing over?" Taehyung's brows furrowed sadly and Eunha frowned as she thought he had already been made aware. "When?"

"Uh... let's go grab a coffee," she replied and offered him an empathetic look when his eyes welled with tears.

"Okay."

**\---**

"He didn't tell you?" Eunha asked while she slowly led Taehyung over to a table in the cafeteria.

"No, he did not. Said he was just visiting."

"More like sampling the trial version," Eunha explained. She pulled out a chair for him to sit and he nodded as a silent thank you. "I mean, I've only known him the past three years." She set the coffee down between them before she took the seat across from him. "We talk on the comm box," she chuckled softly. "He told you how he ended up quadriplegic? How long he's been that way?"

Taehyung was silent, so Eunha proceeded to explain what Jeongguk could never find the courage to do himself.

"One night, he's 21, comes out to his folks," she began. "They're a little _uptight_ about it, you might say. They tell him they don't want a gay son, it's not natural, and so forth. They fight, he gets in his car, runs it off the road. _Boom_ ," Eunha snapped her fingers as if to show how quickly it all happened.

"When he was 21?"

"More than 40 years back," Eunha nodded. "It's been his whole lifetime, basically. So, the whole San Junipero system has been a big deal for him. I mean, the _biggest_ deal. Of course now, until he passes over and it goes permanent, he's on a 5 hour weekly limit. I guess you're the same?"

Taehyung nodded. "They ration it out. They don't trust us with more."

"They say you go crazy if you have too much, you know?" she told him. "You don't leave your seat, you disassociate body from mind--"

"Like that doesn't happen in every senior home already," Taehyung laughed a bit, which made her crack a smile as well. She was happy that Jeongguk had met someone as lovely as Taehyung seemed to be. "The system's there for therapeutic reasons. Immersive nostalgia therapy. Plunges you into a world of memories. Helps with Alzheimer's, that's what they say."

"Small mercies," Eunha sipped her coffee while Taehyung just fiddled with his cup.

"So..." Taehyung began with a smirk, "about this _marriage_..."

"The state's got a triple lockdown on euthanasia cases," she explained. "You gotta have a sign-off from the doc, the patient, and a family member. It's to stop folks from passing over just because they prefer San Junipero flat out. Anyway, Jeongguk's family? They're big time religious and they _will not_ sign."

"But a spouse can override them," Taehyung put two and two together. "Hence the wedding bells."

"You got it," she nodded with a bittersweet half smile. She was glad to help Jeongguk, but she was disappointed that it even had to come to this. "We've got a pastor coming tomorrow morning and then he's scheduled to pass tomorrow afternoon..."

" _Scheduled to pass_ ," Taehyung scoffed. "Let's just call it _dying_."

"If you can call it dying," she replied.

"Uploaded to the cloud. Sounds like Heaven."

"I guess," Eunha pursed her lips indifferently.

"You gonna wear a dress?" Taehyung joked, earning a laugh from the young nurse.

"The ceremony's on my coffee break," she told him. "I never married so I just figured, you know, what's the harm?"

"You're a good person," Taehyung told her sincerely.

"It's the least I could do, right?"

"Do you think you could hook us up to the system now?" Taehyung asked her. "Just for a little while... before he passes?"

"You can still see him afterwards. I mean, then he's got no limit. He's a fully permanent San Juniperan."

"I know, but can you?"

"Seriously, it is so tight here that they monitor every--"

"I only want a _moment_..." he pleaded with her, and who was Eunha to deny Taehyung, Jeongguk's only real friend, of speaking to him one more time.

**\---**

"Sir, you've got 5 minutes," Eunha told Taehyung once she had finished attaching the San Junipero chip to Jeongguk's temple.

Jisoo successfully attached Taehyung's chip as well before both girls were backing off to sit at the other side of the room.

"Thank you," Taehyung told her, and with a single press of a button, Taehyung was back at his beach house, in the year 1987.

The sky was blue and bright with the sun shining down on the sand, and Taehyung was quick to rush outside and find Jeongguk walking along the boardwalk, just a few yards closer to shore.

"Hey!" Taehyung called out as he jogged across the deck, down the steps, and through the sand.

"I've never been here during the daylight," Jeongguk thought aloud, unaware that Taehyung was with him, both in reality and in San Junipero. "It's warm."

Taehyung held onto both of Jeongguk's hands once he finally reached him. "Listen, I gotta be quick. So, I spoke to Eunha."

"Oh..." Jeongguk pursed his lips.

"You're passing over tomorrow?" Taehyung asked.

"Yeah... a couple of hours after the wedding," he answered. "So, I guess I am technically honeymooning _here_ forever... I'm sorry that I didn't tell you--"

Taehyung brought his finger to Jeongguk's lips to silence him. "I'm gonna say something crazy," he warned the younger man before immediately dropping down onto one knee in front of him in the sand.

"Okay..."

"Wanna marry me instead?" he smirked. "It's just--Eunha seems great, but... why not someone you've connected with?"

With tears in his eyes, Jeongguk giggled happily and fell to his knees in order to kiss Taehyung as if his life depended on it.

Taehyung hummed, feeling quite love drunk when he asked, "is that a yes?"

Jeongguk nodded enthusiastically, seemingly unable to keep from kissing him anywhere he could possibly manage.


	7. 07

That evening as the sun set, both in reality and in San Junipero, Taehyung visited the beach house once more.

Jeongguk had been sitting, waiting patiently for Taehyung's return, with his toes in the sand and his glasses folded up beside him.

"Hey!" 

A horn could be heard, along with a familiar voice, from the road.

Jeongguk looked back to see Taehyung, standing there in his topless Jeep, dressed in a crisp royal blue and white suit.

With a beaming smile and bubbly giggles, Jeongguk jogged up the beach and over the boardwalk to get to his husband to be.

Taehyung hopped down from the vehicle and jokingly furrowed his brows at the younger man. "You didn't dress up to see me?" he gaped.

Jeongguk glanced down at his casual shirt and slacks. "Oh..."

"Come on!" Taehyung laughed incredulously.

He blinked, and there Jeongguk was, now dressed to the nines in a matching suit of royal blue and white.

"Better?" Jeongguk smirked and Taehyung clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

He helped Jeongguk up off the sand and into his Jeep before driving off in order to marry him.

**\---**

"It looks so real," Jeongguk shook his head as they watched the tide wash in and back out, from the hood of Taehyung's car after their wedding. "It feels so _real_!" He quickly removed his dress shoes and hopped down from the hood in order to dance around in the sand before them.

"What are you doing?" Taehyung laughed with endearment etched in his features.

Jeongguk sighed loudly in content. "Oh, I _love_ it here!" he giggled happily. "I just love it!"

"You've been here before."

"But now I _live_ here!" Jeongguk's brows were raised along with the corners of his mouth and Taehyung could practically feel the vivacity radiating off of him. He jogged up to the vehicle once more and Taehyung easily spread his knees for Jeongguk to stand between them. "Be with me..." Jeongguk asked him.

"I'm with you now," Taehyung caressed his lover's face.

"That's not what I mean," Jeongguk shook his head. "Pass over... when it's your time--"

"Jeongguk--" Taehyung gave a short laugh.

"Stay here with me."

"Can we just enjoy tonight?" Taehyung's smile fell for a moment and Jeongguk's faltered a bit as well.

"It's almost midnight..." he said. "In 10 minutes, you're out of here. Then I gotta wait a week to see you again..."

"You know I'm just a visitor..." Taehyung tried.

"What, for a couple of months? Then what?"

"We're not discussing this."

"Then, you're gone," Jeongguk answered his own question. "Just gone. You could have _forever_."

" _Forever_?" Taehyung scoffed quietly. "Who can even make sense of forever?"

"However long you want, then," Jeongguk tried. "I mean, you can remove yourself like that," he snapped his fingers. "It's not a trap... I mean, look at it!" he gestured back toward the beach. "Jesus, _touch_ it!" he patted the hood of the Jeep.

"I'm going," Taehyung shook his head and picked his legs up, in order to remove himself from Jeongguk's touch, and hop down from the car.

"Hey. Wait, hey," Jeongguk gently held Taehyung's face in his hands. "It's _real_ ," he looked him in the eye, desperate for Taehyung to see just how badly he needed him to stay. " _This_... is real," he moved to hold Taehyung's hands before he brought them up to cup his own face, "and this."

Jeongguk raised his left hand in order to draw Taehyung's attention to the ring on his finger.

"Come on," Taehyung dismissed him. "You know that was just a gesture."

Jeongguk gave him a look of disbelief. "You married me."

"To help you pass over," Taehyung replied, "as a... _kindness_."

"It's not so kind to leave."

Taehyung's jaw set and he moved to walk away, but Jeongguk stopped him once more.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. I just--" he shook his head as if to say he didn't have the words to explain everything he was feeling in that moment. "I got this chance... _we_ got this chance. I want to share it with you."

"I said I made my choice," Taehyung turned in order to move to the driver's side of the Jeep.

"What is it? You feel bad because your wife isn't here?" Jeongguk called after him curiously, and it struck a nerve he wasn't necessarily intending to strike. "Because that was _her_ choice."

" _Don't_ ," Taehyung warned him without even turning to face him.

"She _chose_ not to stay here. It's like she _left_ you!"

Taehyung glared at him then, but he just kept talking.

"You know, she could have stayed, but _she_ _chose_ _to leave you_!"

"You don't know what you're saying," Taehyung muttered.

"You should be _mad_ at her, not whipping yourself with guilt," Jeongguk reached for his hands, but Taehyung pulled away.

"Get off me."

"You can't see it! But what she did? It was _selfish_ , actually--!"

Taehyung cut him off by slapping him across the face. Jeongguk reached up to feel the sting of his cheek and wisely chose to keep his mouth shut when Taehyung spoke.

"49 years," he began with a broken voice. "I was with her _for_ _49 years_! You can't even _begin_ to imagine... you can't know... the bond, the commitment, the _boredom_ , the _yearning_ , the _laughter_ , the _love_ of it! The fucking _love_! You just _cannot know_!"

Taehyung was sobbing by then while Jeongguk listened with tears in his own eyes.

"Everything we sacrificed... the _years_ I gave her! The _years_ she gave _me_!Did you think to ask? Did it occur to you to ask?!" he furrowed his brows at the younger man who swallowed thickly out of shame. "We had a daughter... Sana," he said the name as if it pained him to do so. "Always difficult, always beautiful... died at 39 years old, bless her heart... and Joy and I? We felt that heartbreak as _one_. You think you're the only person who's ever suffered?! Go _fuck_ yourself!"

"I didn't know--!" Jeongguk cried as Taehyung moved to leave.

"Didn't think to," Taehyung turned back again. "You know, when she was dying, Joy said to me, when they offered her this; To pass over, pass through, spend eternity in this fucking _graveyard_ you're so in love with? She said, _how can I? When Sana missed out, how can I?_ "

Jeongguk was stunned into silence.

"And so she went... and I wish I could believe she's with her now, that they're together, but I _don't_. I believe they're _nowhere_ , just like you said; _Gone_."

Jeongguk opened his mouth to speak but Taehyung cut him off again.

"No, I _pitied_ you, and that's the truth. I _pitied_ you. Now, you give me some sales pitch about how _fucking peachy_ forever could be?"

"I'm sorry..." Jeongguk whispered.

"You wanna spend forever somewhere nothing matters? End up like Hoseok? All those lost fucks at _The Quagmire_ trying anything to _feel_ something? Go ahead! But I'm out. I'm gone."

"Taehyung," Jeongguk tried. He watched him climb into his Jeep and start it up. "I'm sorry! _Taehyung_!" he called after him. 

At 11:59pm, with tears in his eyes, Taehyung drove away from the beach and away from Jeongguk.

He sped down the empty highway with his foot weighing heavy against the accelerator and his heart weighing heavy within his chest.

Just a short distance away from the beach house, Taehyung purposely ignored a _CAUTION: ROAD CLOSED AHEAD_ sign, and drove right through an empty construction zone.

Taehyung stared directly ahead of the vehicle at the steadily approaching cement barricades that blocked off the road, and when the vehicle made impact, Taehyung was launched through his windshield. He landed in the street, just a few yards from the barricades, after tumbling forward a good distance.

Taehyung wheezed, but felt no pain as he slowly pushed himself up onto his knees. When he raised his head, Jeongguk was standing before him, with an apologetic expression and two helping hands.

But as Taehyung moved to accept them in his own, their wristwatches struck midnight, and as Jeongguk had grown quite used to, Taehyung disappeared before his eyes.

**\---**

"You alright?" Jisoo smiled from where she knelt before Taehyung's recliner at _Sienna Trust_ the following week.

His condition was steadily deteriorating. With each cough, each wheeze, each gasping breath, Taehyung knew his time was coming soon enough.

"I'm fine," he lied, having grown used to doing so, for her sake. Jisoo had been taking _wonderful_ care of him for several years now, and Taehyung was _eternally_ grateful for her, even if he knew he could never repay her. 

She moved to sit beside him in a chair of her own and together, they stared out at the beautiful, sunny day before them.

"Well, okay then," Taehyung suddenly thought aloud.

"Huh?" Jisoo turned to look at the older man. "Taehyung?" she reached to gently hold onto the back of his hand.

"All things considered..." he began hoarsely, before nodding with determination, "I guess I'm ready."

"For what?" she asked him.

"For the rest of it," he answered.

**\---**

After several days of deliberating, Taehyung decided that if he was going out, he was going to do it on his own terms.

He decided that he wasn't going to allow his cancer to inevitably kill him, and that he wasn't going to allow himself to blindly follow the decision his late wife had made; To decline his invitation to San Junipero and face the harsh remainder of eternity elsewhere.

These decisions were what led Taehyung to sign off on the approval of his own euthanasia.

His body was buried, in reality, in a shared family grave plot with his late wife and daughter.

_SANA KIM. AGED 39 YEARS OLD._   
_JOY KIM. AGED 74 YEARS OLD._   
_TAEHYUNG KIM. AGED 73 YEARS OLD._

However, Taehyung had made one final request.

He asked that Jisoo would attach his San Junipero chip to his temple before the time would come for his injection.

With a heavy heart, Jisoo fulfilled his request, and Taehyung departed from their world soon after.

But she knew, from the tears in his eyes and the smile on his lips as he was passing over, that Taehyung was better off there; In San Junipero, living out his wildest dreams, in the company of a warm lover.

Jeongguk pulled up to Taehyung's beach house in a convertible car of his own, that same evening. He was positively delighted when he watched Taehyung step out onto the deck with that wonderfully endearing boxy smile of his.

"Ready?" Jeongguk called to him from the car, which earned an excited giggle from his husband as he quickly made his way down to him. 

Taehyung hopped over the door and slid down into the passenger seat with ease. Jeongguk couldn't help himself when he leaned over the center console in order to hold Taehyung's face in his hands and kiss him as if they were never going to see one another again.

Though that was far from the case, as they danced with one another at _Tucker's_ without a care in the world, surrounded by tourists and fellow full-timers.

And even when the clock struck midnight, they just kept on dancing.


End file.
